A Malfoy Epilogue
by hrhrionastar
Summary: Dinner with the Malfoys about three and a half years after the Final Battle. Complete with special guests, intriguing news, and an epic in-law battle. Lucius's POV.


**Innocent In-Laws**

Lucius Abraxas Malfoy hated everything about Astoria Tamara Greengrass Malfoy. He hated her sweet smile, her cheerful energy, the way she threw herself into renovating _his_ house; he hated how her dark, chestnut hair curled adorably over her ears, he hated her bright brown eyes and the few little freckles scattered across her nose, and most of all, he hated her ludicrous, indefatigable innocence.

He didn't understand how she could be so sweet and cheerful when her own family had disowned her. And for marrying a Malfoy, no less! _That_ still made his blood boil.

A little over a year previously, only two and a half years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco had brought this girl home to his parents. Neither Lucius nor Narcissa had kept track of the local gossip—it was too painful, now that they were no longer welcome in high society—and so they hadn't seen the reports of the broken engagement between Ernie MacMillan, hero of the Final Battle (as though any battle could ever be the last—Gryffindors were so naïve), and Astoria Greengrass, then seventeen and second daughter of the Greengrass family, well-known to have been…sympathetic to the Dark Lord's cause, even if they had not actively participated in the war. It was doubtful the elder Malfoys would have regarded it much if they had seen the engagement announcement and its termination, but they certainly would have minded the subsequent rumors that the younger Greengrass girl had thrown away all her fine chances in order to have coffee with Draco Malfoy. _Check the cellars of Malfoy Manor_, some whispered. _Love potions_… Others scoffed and asked what one could expect from a Greengrass girl? Didn't people know that Slytherins always stuck together? Those Death Eater families…

Next, Lucius and Narcissa would have seen, had they been paying attention, the scandalous news that young, innocent Astoria Greengrass had eloped with dangerous, Death Eating Draco Malfoy. After all, no matter what Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding world, said, the fact remained that the Malfoys had been part of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's inner circle. True, Potter claimed they'd repented of that mistake, but did Death Eaters ever really change their spots? And if so many of You-Know-Who's followers—Severus Snape, the Malfoys—had betrayed him, how was it that he had successfully taken over the Ministry of Magic and ruled the Wizarding world for about a year? Perhaps Potter was too quick to forgive. You never knew, after all.

Hence Lucius's own situation. On Harry Potter's testimony, his wife and son had been acquitted of all charges, but he had been placed under house arrest, and charged a heavy fine for complicity in the Dark Lord's evil schemes. At first, this hadn't bothered Lucius much. He had his (comparative) liberty, which was more than he'd ever expected; his family was safe and sound, and they were together; the fine, large as it was, barely dented the huge fortune he'd inherited from his father, and his father's father—if giving the Dark Lord houseroom had left him wealthy, the less imaginative fines of the new administration could hardly be expected to reach the bottom of his very deep pockets; and, most of all, his family was safe, at last. All was well—or as well as a retired member of the Dark Lord's inner circle could ever expect.

Until she came. Draco brought the girl, for so she was—seventeen, not old enough to marry anyone, Lucius would have thought. Not now, in these days of justice and political correctness. If it had been one of his ancestors, however…

Narcissa was shocked that Draco and Astoria hadn't taken the time to plan a large, fancy wedding. It seemed to escape her notice that hardly anyone who was anyone would have RSVPed favorably. Instead, Draco had eloped with the girl right under her ex-fiancée's nose, and then brought her home to Malfoy Manor to meet his parents.

Right away, Lucius had been unfavorably impressed. His very first sight of the girl, she had been weeping into his son's shoulder, her threadbare cloak muddied and torn (apparently the Greengrasses' wealth had not withstood the war) and her pretty brown eyes bloodshot.

"Oh, darling, don't cry," Narcissa said at once. "We're so glad to meet you."

Although Lucius admired his wife's good manners, it did not strike him that the girl's tears were caused by fear at her reception to her new home. So, indeed, it proved:

"How could they do this to me?" the girl sobbed.

Draco patted her shoulder and murmured soothingly and inaudibly.

"Who?" Lucius asked, eyes narrowing. However little he might like the girl, no one was going to give his son's bride a hard time.

"My—my parents!" sobbed the girl. "And Daphne—where does she get off—probably seducing Ernie right now, the hypocrite! 'Can't afford to lose any more standing'—as though that mattered!"

"Am I to understand," began Lucius icily, "that your ungrateful, unwise, unjust, unimaginative, and foolish family has dared—dared!—to disown you for marrying my son?"

Astoria only sobbed harder into Draco's shoulder. Draco smoothed a hand over her adorable chestnut curls with such a grave look of love and suffering on his face that Lucius was surprised. Whatever else, it was apparent that his son was in love with the girl. Never had he seemed so selfless in his father's eyes as in that moment.

Narcissa had made the girl some tea, and promised to introduce her to the sister she hadn't spoken to in many years—until they'd reunited over Bellatrix's grave—and Astoria stared at her. "You mean you did this to your own sister?" she demanded, outraged.

Narcissa hung her head, and took the girl's censure freely. Lucius knew she believed she deserved it, but he did not. "Don't talk about things you don't understand," he had told the girl harshly.

Draco frowned him down, but not before the girl met his cold look with a determined one of her own. She set her chin, and the tearstains on her cheeks only made her look more like a force to be reckoned with. Lucius was surprised to find that she wasn't such a little girl, after all. That had been the beginning of their enmity.

Now, fourteen months later, Lucius was seriously considering demanding that Draco take his bride and leave Malfoy Manor. Surely there was somewhere else they could go—Narcissa's family estate, Blacklake, perhaps. She had put through the paperwork to have it registered in her name when Draco was about six, since her cousin, to whom it belonged, had a life sentence in Azkaban. Somehow, it had been overlooked by the Aurors and Ministry representatives who swarmed over everything the Malfoys owned, searching for Dark artifacts.

It was a cold, crisp day in February, and Lucius spent it reworking the chapter of his memoirs about Bellatrix. When he'd first met her (at Hogwarts; he didn't count all the pureblood society parties and gatherings his parents had dragged him to as a child—you could meet anyone there and forget them in five minutes), he'd had quite a crush on her—until a few years later, when he'd met her youngest sister.

He saw Draco and Astoria briefly at lunchtime. Astoria had made sandwiches and salad, which, he admitted in spite of himself, were quite good. He was no longer allowed house-elves. Indeed, he knew that the Granger girl—Weasley, now—was working on her favorite brainchild, the House-Elf Liberation Act. He only hoped it wouldn't pass the Wizengamot.

His son and daughter-in-law seemed quite happy, giggling together like a pair of teenagers. Technically, of course, Astoria was only eighteen, and Draco twenty-one, so perhaps this was not so far off the mark. "Hello, Father," said Draco, grinning. "We're going to Diagon Alley today, want anything?"

"No, thank you," said Lucius frostily. "But why don't you ask your mother?"

"Oh, yes, good idea," said Astoria, getting up and out of Draco's arms. He kissed her hand playfully. "I'll ask her! I wonder if she wants any new thread?"

Of course—Narcissa's favorite hobby of embroidering. She had told Lucius once, in confidence, that it was the only way she'd kept herself together the year he was in Azkaban. He didn't like to think about that even now. If he had to be grateful to Harry Potter for sparing him any further time in that place, not to mention more months suffering the Dark Lord to steal his wand and treat his family heirlooms like trash and punish his son for being a decent human being, so be it. Although he had not materially assisted the Boy Who Lived in bringing down that monster, he was deeply grateful that Narcissa had had the courage and opportunity to do so. At the time, of course, he had been terrified for her, and for Draco. Miraculously, they had all gotten through it.

And now, it was as though Draco had completely forgotten those days. He was too busy laughing with Astoria, the two of them making their plans to renovate the Manor so Astoria could have a proper painting studio. They wanted to get rid of all the secret passages and storage rooms, and turn the dungeons into some sort of laboratory, Lucius wasn't clear on the details. Already they'd moved most of the more cumbersome family heirlooms and artifacts that had survived both the Dark Lord's occupation and the new regime's search to the attic.

Lucius was thankful that, so far, his study remained intact. He repaired there for the rest of the afternoon, alternately brooding and writing his memoirs. He had tea with Narcissa on the terrace, what time she reminded him that her sister Andromeda and her great-nephew Teddy were coming over for dinner. He found one of Astoria's paint bottles, open on the edge of the sitting room table. It had dripped all over the carpet. He repaired the damage easily enough, but her carelessness irritated him. Just his luck that his son would decide to marry an _artist_.

Draco and Astoria didn't return until just before Andromeda and Teddy were due to arrive, which annoyed Lucius because it meant Narcissa had to do all the cooking herself. Also, although he continued to disapprove of Andromeda's choices (the two of them had never preciously gotten along, in spite of being in the same year at Hogwarts, and that hadn't changed when she'd married Muggle-born, _Hufflepuff _Ted Tonks), he nonetheless thought it incumbent upon each of them to present a good appearance before her. Narcissa was much happier now that she was reconciled with her sister, and therefore he was too—but Andromeda's grandson's godfather was Harry Potter, and, no matter how unwillingly grateful he was to the boy, it wouldn't do to take chances. Andromeda had friends in high places, and she didn't like Lucius.

The children—Draco and Astoria—seemed somewhat subdued when they returned. This was unusual enough to catch Lucius's attention. He devoutly hoped that they hadn't decided the entire Manor must be repainted, refurbished, and redone in order to be acceptable to them.

Astoria went at once to help Narcissa in the kitchen, and Draco set the table. Lucius watched him from behind his copy of _A Wizarding Genealogy_.

"Father," Draco asked after a moment. "When you found out Mother was pregnant…did you feel like a father then, or not until I was born, or…?"

"Right away," Lucius started to say, but then saw Draco's earnest face. "Well," he amended, "At first it seemed a little surreal. But then, a couple months before you were born, Narcissa and I were making plans for you—which room would be yours, which of the house-elves would be in charge of taking care of you when we weren't around, and, of course, what your name would be. We got to wondering who you'd look more like, and when you'd first smile at us…And Narcissa said she was going to breastfeed you even though that really wasn't done, not then, not by pureblood families, anyway—her mother disapproved, I can tell you that…And that's when I knew. Being a parent is about sacrifice. _Love_ is about sacrifice. And you were already changing our lives, changing everything for us—and I loved you. That's when I first felt like your father." Lucius looked at Draco's awestruck face and shining eyes, and added, on a note of regret, "I just wish I could have shown you that sooner—there's nothing your mother and I wouldn't sacrifice for you."

"I know, Dad," said Draco softly. Lucius wondered what he was thinking of—all the expensive gifts, the Family Expectations—or the years that all that had been stripped away, and they had barely hung onto their dignity. "I know. _Thank you_."

"Anyone home?" Andromeda asked sardonically. She walked into the dining room, holding her almost four-year-old grandson. Lucius didn't ask how she'd gotten in—most of the blood wards were down now, thanks to the Aurors, and the ones that remained wouldn't have stopped a Black anyway.

"Hello, Aunt Andromeda," said Draco politely.

"Draco," said Andromeda, giving him a stiff nod. "Lucius," she said after a long, long moment.

The tension was broken when the child in her arms cried, "_Down_, Grandromeda!" His hair turned an angry red, and she released him—whereupon it returned to a glittery pale blue, and Teddy Lupin raced toward the kitchen to find Narcissa. Like all very young children Narcissa came in contact with for any significant amount of time, he loved his Great-Aunt Cissy.

Andromeda refused to look at Lucius, and he resigned himself to another long evening. Why Narcissa insisted that her sister come here, when she knew perfectly well how much Andromeda hated Lucius, and hated that he and Narcissa still had each other and their son, while she had lost everything but the little Metamorphagus boy, he was sure he would never understand, but he tolerated these painful evenings for Narcissa's sake. He suspected Andromeda did, too.

Dinner began normally enough. The six of them sat around the small kitchen table Astoria had levitated into the dining room to replace the huge, official one for formal occasions. Andromeda used her wit and sarcasm as a shield, and everyone quite deliberately refrained from mentioning all but extremely recent history. Draco was cheerful again, though warily polite around his aunt. Astoria was quieter than usual, and even more absent-minded, if that were possible. She spilled soup all over her gown, and shrieked because it was still quite hot. Narcissa helped her, but then Astoria upended the salt into the flagon of pumpkin juice, how Lucius couldn't discover. Throughout the meal, she stared at Teddy, as though fascinated. It was left to Narcissa to salvage the evening as best she might, until Draco made a startling announcement just before dessert.

"So, Tori and I went shopping today," he said neutrally. "And we decided to, er, check on something, just in case, and, well…Tori's pregnant!"

Astoria blushed and looked down at her lap. Narcissa beamed, obviously thrilled. Andromeda blinked in surprise, and, Lucius was quick to note, envy. He himself was unsure how he felt. On the one hand, he wasn't too shocked, considering Draco's earlier query. And Narcissa was so happy. On the other, a baby would mean more changes—were Draco and Astoria ready for that? And what about the current political climate, in which it would hard to raise a Malfoy heir properly?

"I'm so pleased, darling," said Narcissa.

"Congratulations," Andromeda scowled.

"I don't know—" began Astoria. "It all seems so unreal. We'll have to set up a nursery, of course, and I want the construction finished before the baby's born, it can't be healthy—and then, also, all the Dark stuff that's still lying around forgotten in corners—Drake, I need that stuff gone, for our baby's sake."

"Of course, Tori," Draco said at once, covering her hand on the tabletop with his. "You're absolutely right, safety first."

"You still have Dark artifacts _lying around_?" demanded Andromeda shrilly. "Teddy!" she shrieked. He frowned at her, but that tone was hard to resist. He hung his head, sure he'd transgressed somehow, his hair turning a melancholy, limp brown. Andromeda turned to Narcissa. "You have dangerous objects _lying around_ in this house and you didn't bother to tell me before I took my grandson here?"

"No, no, Andromeda," said Narcissa soothingly. "If there's anything left after the Aurors have gone through the house top to bottom, I'll be very surprised, and anyway, all of the old stuff is in the attic. I would _never_ put Teddy in danger, you have to believe that!"

"How can I? You lived in the same house as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! Not to mention _her_," Andromeda yelled. Lucius knew to whom_ her_ referred, but he doubted very much that Bellatrix would have left booby-traps for a great-nephew she'd never seen and could have no inkling would one day come to Malfoy Manor in friendship.

"We have to think about this stuff," said Astoria seriously. "I'm not living in a house that might prove hazardous to my baby, we'll have to give it a complete overhaul—"

"No," said Lucius quietly. All eyes turned to look at him, even Teddy's.

"What?" Draco asked, bewildered.

"No, I'm not letting you turn this house upside-down," Lucius said, speaking directly to Astoria now. "Generations of Malfoys have been born and raised here—"

"And look how well _you _turned out," Andromeda put in venomously.

"And I won't allow you to destroy valuable family heirlooms in a vain quest to eradicate all sources of danger to your son," Lucius went on.

"Or daughter," muttered Astoria rebelliously.

"But, Father—" protested Draco.

"You _would_ say that, Lucius," mocked Andromeda. "Still clinging to the old ways? Don't you know better than that by now?"

"I don't understand," said Draco coldly. "You don't want our child to be safe here?"

"Obviously, your father believes that what was good enough for his ancestors is good enough for us," said Astoria. "But I will not tolerate his attempts to lock me into a mold I'll never fit. I'm not the typical pureblood wife and mother, and I won't give in on this. The house must be made baby-proof without delay."

"Or perhaps you could simply take up your residence elsewhere," Lucius suggested silkily.

Astoria looked at Draco hopefully.

Draco frowned. "If we're no longer welcome—"

"No, no, my son, we would never turn you out," Narcissa said hurriedly. Lucius sighed inwardly. He ought to have predicted her attitude. She would hardly allow him to throw Draco, or even Astoria, out into the cold.

"Fine," he said, feeling goaded past endurance. "Then _we'll_ leave."

"You're leaving?" Andromeda smirked. "Excellent!"

"Wait, Father, you don't mean that," objected Draco. "What about the Ministry?"

"I'll apply for clemency," answered Lucius. Anything to get away from Astoria, he added to himself.

"But, darling," said Narcissa quietly, so as not to be overheard by Draco and Astoria, "I was just starting to like her!"

Teddy frowned at all the loud arguing, and began to cry. Andromeda picked him up and started rocking him in her arms soothingly. She leaned closer to Narcissa and Lucius, and said softly but wickedly, "But you know, Narcissa—you don't have to go with this idiot."

"What?" Lucius and Narcissa said together—the former furiously, and the latter in total confusion.

"Of course I—I mean, we—how do you—Andromeda!" Narcissa continued, shocked.

Andromeda shrugged. "I'm only saying," she said slyly. "Times are changing, little sister. You don't have to do whatever your husband wants for the rest of your life, you know."

Narcissa just stared at her for another long moment.

Then, apparently giving up on understanding her sister, she turned back to Lucius. "You don't really want to leave the Manor just when we've found out that we're about to have a grandson!"

"Or daughter," Astoria muttered.

"And," Narcissa added, quieter now, "I'm not entirely convinced the Ministry will agree to lift your house arrest."

"Then they can transfer it," Lucius said, tired of the discussion now. "They have enough people, what with Potter heading the Department."

"Speaking of the Potters," Astoria said thoughtfully. "I think I'll invite Mrs. Potter to my baby shower. I heard she and Harry were having some issues, you know, and maybe I could help!"

"Having seen your fair share of 'issues'?" asked Andromeda dryly.

Draco looked uncomfortable. "Sweetheart, I'm not so sure the Potters would want to see us…"

"But surely your school years rivalry with Potter is over and done with," Astoria said, surprised.

"Actually, yes," admitted Draco. "Not that we've had a touching forgiveness scene or anything, but he saved us after the Battle. It's more Weasley, to be honest."

"Well, maybe one day your son—" began Andromeda slyly.

"Or daughter," interjected Astoria swiftly.

"—will further reconcile the Malfoy-Weasley feud and marry one of them," Andromeda suggested.

Lucius recoiled. "Absolutely not, I forbid it!"

"Don't you think that's my prerogative?" objected Draco. "Not that I expect it will ever be a problem; no doubt my son—"

"Or daughter!" Astoria practically shouted.

"I _was _going to say that, you know," Draco said mildly.

Astoria blushed. "Oh. Sorry."

"My son _or daughter_ will have better taste than that," Draco finished.

Andromeda snorted. "I wouldn't count on _that_," she muttered. If she was insulted by the slur on the Weasleys, she didn't show it.

The evening ended on that note, because Teddy was getting restless. "Bored now, Grandromeda," he complained. Narcissa reached for him eagerly, but Andromeda used his exhaustion as an excuse to take her leave.

Once she'd gone, Draco asked his father, "Are you really leaving?"

"I think so, yes," said Lucius. "We'll return periodically to visit—always assuming the Ministry approves my petition."

"Don't worry, darling," said Narcissa. "We'll be back to help with the birth."

"Oh, thanks, Narcissa," Astoria replied gratefully. Since her own mother and sister would hardly come, she was presumably glad of the support.

"Let's be clear—you're leaving the Manor in my hands?" Draco asked. "Tori and I can go ahead with the renovations and Great Purging of Dark Artifacts, and you won't mind?"

That he wouldn't mind was going too far, in Lucius's opinion. Still, he had few qualms about leaving the family fortunes in his son's capable hands. Draco had grown up a lot in the past few years.

"Of course not, sweetie," Narcissa said soothingly.

Draco grinned. "Wow."

"Do be careful," Lucius said, worried his son's enthusiasm might take him too far. He was already unofficially in charge of most of the family investments, and Lucius shuddered to think what he might do to the house if left to his own devices for too long. "We'll talk," he said firmly.

"Of course, Father," Draco agreed, still grinning.

Astoria sipped her tea, then frowned. "Oh, for Salazar's sake!" she said crossly. "We forgot to serve dessert!"

"But we had that delicious quarrel," Draco said slyly. He leaned in and kissed Astoria on the lips. Lucius closed his eyes, praying for patience.

"I'll get the ice cream," said Narcissa, a bit of a laugh in her voice. Probably at his pained expression, Lucius supposed. As she got up to go into the spacious kitchen, she leaned over him, her long pale hair shielding them from Draco and Astoria, and whispered, "Don't worry, sweetheart. Potter will be reasonable, and you won't have to see your daughter-in-law for nine months."

"Prediction?" he asked softly. "Thank you, Narcissa, my love."

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Approximately nine months later, on November 18, 2002, Anwen Narcissa Malfoy was born.

Meanwhile, Lucius and Narcissa moved into a beachfront cottage she'd inherited from her mother, and Lucius's house arrest was lifted for good behavior. Moreover, Draco refrained from throwing all Lucius's hard-earned (or rather, inherited) money away on charities and painting supplies. Malfoy Manor, though aired out, with several large windows added and a spacious painting studio, and most of the ancestral portraits relegated to the attic, was still recognizable. Perhaps all was not well—he still hated Astoria, after all—but Lucius found his circumstances were definitely improving.

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**Author's Note**: Yes, I'm aware that JK never mentioned Draco and Astoria with a daughter, but I think it's about time the Malfoys broke that one-child/heir habit. Furthermore, she never definitely said Scorpius was the only Next Generation Malfoy. So if it is AU, it's only the tiniest bit. :)


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